In network equipment performance testing environments, it may be desirable to generate traffic that is stateless, encrypted, and/or encapsulated. In some testing environments, a test packet originator of a test system generates a stream of cleartext stateless packets, such as user datagram protocol (UDP) packets, and then utilizing encapsulating security payload (ESP) protocol to apply encryption and encapsulation to each test packet. Ultimately, after being received by a device under test (DUT), the test packets are returned to the test system and may subsequently be processed (e.g., decrypted, filtered, etc.) by a final test packet receiver. Due to performance penalties, however, the test packet receiver of the test system should not be configured to process all of the incoming packets in the case of stateless test packet traffic (unless configured otherwise). For example, if the test system is required to decrypt each and every received test packet, the processing resources necessary to perform such global test packet decryption would prove computationally burdensome. Such a configuration potentially leads to reduced overall test system bandwidth capability and more costly test system hardware. As networks handle greater volumes of traffic and network devices increase in performance, so too must testing equipment keep pace in order to accurately test the performance of emerging networks and network equipment.
Accordingly, in light of these difficulties, a need exists for improved methods, systems, and computer readable media for selectively processing packets using TTL information.